…Neiman Marcus Blames Fashion Bloggers for Its Sales Woes by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Today, fashion shows are now blogged and broadcast all over the world via social media,” said Karen Katz, Neiman Marcus Group CEO on a conference call with investors on Monday. “By the time the merchandise ships many months later, the newness and excitement had worn off and in many cases, the customer has moved on.”Read more

50% of U.S. households could be Prime members by end of 2016 — or has it already happened? by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Blackledge estimates there are 49 million existing Amazon Prime members, comprising 44 percent of homes nationwide. He predicts about 12 million new subscribers will sign up in 2016, bringing U.S. households represented to just over 50 percent.”Read more

…In the same time span, households that only use either Costco (from 14.9% to 9.8%) and Sam’s Club (from 16.9% to 9.7%) dropped noticeably at Business Insider. Read more

Old Navy Names Chief Marketing Officer by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “Old Navy has tapped Jamie Gersch, most recently CMO at fast-fashion chain Charlotte Russe, as senior VP-chief marketing officer. She starts at the end of October.”Read more

Home Depot Pulls ‘Scary Peeper Creeper’ Halloween Decor From Stores by Joy D’Souza at HuffPo. “Shopper Breanne Hunt-Wells of Markham, Ont. spotted the disturbing window decoration in a Home Depot store and complained to CBC News about it. The teacher said it is “inappropriate and makes light of a real-life, sinister issue that women face in our society.”See the pic / Read more

Why Sam’s Club and First Data are using each other to find customers by Ari Leevy at CNBC. “You’re getting very warm leads from another brand,” said Shirazi, who started Radius in 2009 and last year raised a $50 million financing round with funding from Salesforce Ventures. “Companies can work together to drive business for each other.”Read more

West Elm Will Open Hotels as Malls Lose Allure for Retailers by Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. “The new hotels will be furnished with pieces that reflect the chain’s modern aesthetic, as well as local decor from the region. The first locations are slated for Charlotte, North Carolina; Detroit; Indianapolis; Minneapolis; and Savannah, Georgia.”Read more

Walmart VP of OTC and five members of her buying team speak at forum at Drug Store News. “(Annie) Walker and five members of her buying team — including Jamie Grace, Staci Cochran, Bill Spradlin, Charles Greathouse and Lori McNitt Price — spoke to the leadership forum for over two hours on the characteristics of optimal retailer/supplier engagements…”Read more

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Charles Walgreen III, pharmacy scion, dies at 80 by Brigid Sweeney at Chicago Crain’s. “According to information provided by Walgreens, he liked to tell the story of how he took over from his father, Charles Walgreen Jr.: The elder Walgreen called his son into his office and said, “Here’s your desk. Here are the keys. I’m going fishing.”Read more

Eight-Cent Eggs: Grocery Prices Are Plunging by Craig Giammona at Bloomberg. “The severity of what we’re seeing is completely unprecedented,” said Scott Mushkin, an analyst at Wolfe Research who has studied grocery prices around the country for more than ten years. “We’ve never seen deflation this sharp.”Read more

Schnucks employees vote to reject contract by Kristen Taketa at St. Louis Post Dispatch. “Of the 2,194 Schnuck Markets employees who are members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 and voted, 1,934, or 89 percent, rejected Schnucks’ proposed contract. More than 4,500 Schnucks employees are in the union….The union wants to use the strike vote to continue bargaining with Schnucks…”Read more

American Express can stop merchants from steering clients to other cards by Rachel Abrams at NY Times.Read more

‘Bra war’ heats up, but Victoria’s Secret shoppers are still the most valuable by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Shoppers at the (Victoria’s Secret) make more frequent purchases than the average intimates consumer, according to Checkout Tracking, a service of The NPD Group. They also spend more. Victoria’s Secret customers shell out an average $40 to $60 more than the average intimate apparel shopper.”Read more

Publix Names Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities and Vice President of FacilitiesPress release